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As you are probably aware there have been a number of changes to workers’ compensation benefit rates lately. The Administrative Director issued the latest temporary disability maximum and minimum rates based upon the most recent increases in the state average weekly wage. These rate changes effect temporary total disability, temporary partial disability, death benefits, and permanent total disability benefits.

More interestingly, the legislature brought several reform changes with SB 863 to California workers’ compensation benefits late on Friday August 31, 2012. If you check out the updated Labor Code Section 4453, you’ll notice there is a new maximum permanent partial disability rate for the highest levels of permanent disability for dates of injury after 1/1/2013. And, reviewing Labor Code Section 4658, you’ll see the 15% adjustments have been removed for dates of injury after 1/1/2013.

Before we consider how the DEU calculates future SAWW increases, it is necessary to look back to past SAWW changes. In the last 50 years there have been only two instances where the SAWW has decreased from the prior year. Since Labor Code Sections 4659(c) and 4453(a)(10) only apply increases in the SAWW to life pensions and permanent total disability benefits, there is no effect on the benefit rates for those two years.

When the DEU indicates a historical 50-year average of SAWW increases, they mean exactly that. Thus, instead of averaging the decreases in the SAWW with the increases, the DEU averages only the increases of the historical SAWW data. (I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up – 2004 and 2011 are the only instances in the last 50 years of any reduction in the state average weekly wage). An average of just the SAWW increases over the last 50 years does come to 4.6%.

No problem. Just fill out the handy referral form and fax or e-mail us your permanent and stationary reports and one of our Certified Impairment Rating Specialist will quickly e-mail you the rating you need to move your case forward. 23

A PDRater certified rating is a rating prepared by a Certified Impairment Rating Specialist using PDRater calculators, the most trusted and impartial workers compensation calculators in California. [↩]

We’ve all seen ratings from various sources – the DEU, opposing counsel, clients, and professional raters. 1 My question to all of you dear readers is – what do you like to see in a professional permanent disability rating?

Talk to your doctor about how you can save 15% or more on your reptile dysfunction medication

A friend of mine is an Applicant’s attorney who uses dictation software with his work computer. 1 As you may know, dictation and voice recognition software is pretty good – but it is not always successful. My friend, I’ll call him “Tom,”2 was sending an e-mail demand for medication to a defense attorney using his dictation software. The software got the phrase wrong, but given that the result was extremely entertaining, he sent it anyway.